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IronChefDavis

Joined 3 years ago

I'm so there!. Wandering aimlessly down Rice Blvd. will lead you in either of two directions: into Hermann Park, or to a place where great food, wine and class meet: Ruggles Café and Bakery in the Rice Village. Quite a popular establishment, Ruggles offers some of the best food in Houston and uses the finest and freshest ingredients.

The downside of its popularity is that the line is often out the door. Luckily, superb service makes the daunting wait fly by with a quick and accurate cashier staff and a simply amazing cooking staff that turns out orders quickly. On days when the line is doable and the weather is beautiful, customers can take the patio seating and even bring their own wine. The café will provide glasses for free.

With a bustling environment that seems more like a beehive than a restaurant, Ruggles is the prime destination for delicious homemade soup and fresh salads. Their soup offerings include black bean with goat cheese and bacon, tomato basil and vegetarian vegetable. Those craving a fresh garden salad can try the satisfying small side salad, the spinach Cobb salad or the award-winning chicken tostada salad. The soup and sandwich combo features half of any sandwich and a cup of soup, for a perfect light lunch. With a price that won't break the bank, patrons are sure to leave with full pockets and, even better, full bellies. Definitely a great deal!

The sandwiches range from the simple smoked turkey and Swiss, with cranberry-orange alioli - a mayonnaise flavored with garlic and other spices - on soft sourdough bread, to the elaborate grilled chicken wrap, filled with fresh mozzarella, lettuce and tomato in a spinach tortilla covered in ranch dressing and spicy mango chipotle sauce.

Meatier offerings include the 91-percent lean meat buffalo burger with fresh mozzarella on a whole wheat bun, the roasted pork loin sandwich with caramelized onions and mango chipotle mayonnaise and the eight-ounce prime Angus burger. Both time-honored favorites and new twists are delicious, but the selling point of Ruggles is the choice the restaurant offers: All wraps can be made into sandwiches, and all sandwiches can be made into wraps.

Sandwiches aren't for everyone, though, and Ruggles also offers an impressive array of pastas. In particular, the southwest pasta is to die for, containing goat cheese, bacon, spicy salsa and grilled chicken, mixed into a pile of fettuccine pasta. It has a delightfully spicy and bold flavor, and customers can add grilled shrimp for a delicious double-meat combination of poultry and seafood. If the meals still aren't jazzed up enough for you, you can create your own masterpiece at the thoughtfully organized and tidy self-service station.

Patrons should also make sure to check out the Ruggles dessert gallery. This three-windowed display of sugary delights is a marvel to behold and includes such fares as the vanilla bean parfait with raspberries, the red velvet cake, several kinds of cheesecakes, the German chocolate cake and the berry ripple cake. Try the new strawberry bomb, made with a delicate angel food cake, mascarpone cheese, whipped cream and tons of fresh strawberries. Those who don't want cake may prefer death, and at Ruggles, death comes in the form of four-inch cookies, available in chocolate chip, white chocolate Macadamia, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, double chocolate chip and Reese's peanut butter cup. Definitely save room.

Ruggles offers some of the best food and the best variety for the price in the Rice area. Rice University students with a HedgeHopper card gets students a 10% discount on Monday and Tuesday. A picnic basket in Hermann Park will never give you so many options.

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sand0615

Joined 4 years ago

Yay for BYOW. My friends and I love to go to Ruggles before going out to midtown for the night. It is a great place to bring a bottle of wine (there is no corking fee), order a slice of cake, and hang out with friends. We have never had a bad experience.

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melissawalters

Joined 4 years ago

Good food!. Ruggles has really good food at decent prices. I go by there a couple of times a week since it's very convenient for me. You really need to try their desserts if you. All of them! lol

The service could be better but it's a small complaint.

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Lifelive

Joined 4 years ago

Have had serveral great meals there. I am frequently making business trips to the Houston medical center and I almost always find myself coming to Ruggles Cafe Bakery. In fact I ate there just last week. The food is wonderful and the desserts are fabulous. I can see why it is often busy during lunch. I always have a quality meal and look forward to my next visit.

Doesn't Recommend

Aioria

Joined 4 years ago

I was a customer for two years. I was an almost daily customer of this restaurant until a few months back. This restaurant first attracted me for its fresh food, convenience and price but lately it has been suffering from bad food and service. I went there for almost two years at least 2 times a week so what I experienced is hardly coincidence.

First I had an incident with one of the busboys when he made a comment about me moving to a different table and leaving a napkin on the other one. Something like ?Please, I just cleaned that table?.

I let that go, but then I had several incidents when my food was not ready for more that 20-30 min. For most of last year I got the food in less than 10 min. Several times I had to cancel my order (when it took more than 20 min) because I was paged and had to run back to work. All those times I spoke to the manager about it and the only thing he did was to give me my money back, no apologies no comps, nothing so I did not feel appreciated even though most cashiers and even the cook recognized me at the time.

I have also noticed the quality of their food suffering. The strawberries and orange slices that accompany most of their sandwiches look a day old at best. Their soup is barely warm and sometimes feels old. The burgers feel greasy as of late. The bathroom is almost always smelly.

So I did the only thing I could do as a customer. I will never be back.

Doesn't Recommend

sarina

Joined 5 years ago

Great To Bad. We once again gave Ruggles Cafe Bakery another try. It had been a favorite for so long and we were hoping the last couple of disappointing meals there were just flukes. So here we go again - beautiful Sunday afternoon, sit ourdoors, we planned enjoy a late lunch with our family.

Two of us ordered tomato basil soup. It was lukewarm- at best. Sweet potato fries no where near hot - left that gross film of oil on the roof of my mouth after eating just one. One hamburger and one sandwich ordered with no tomatoes arrived full of tomatoes. My goat cheese salad was so drenched in dressing it was inedible. We were up and down the entire meal trying to get the order right, get the soup warm, etc.

I was trying to overlook my drenched in dressing salad and eat it anyway when my daughter insisted we take it back too. I felt badly about having to go back up to the counter so many times with complaints.

To salvage the meal I decided to go ahead and get a dessert we could all have a few bites of. At the counter I ordered the fruit cobbler. We just could not believe it when it, too, was absolutely a flop. Completely unable to eat it. The crust was wet and soggy and thick....we honestly didn't know what to make of it. It was disgusting.

Very sorry to say something so unflattering. There are so many pluses about this Ruggles. The location is fantastic. It's great to have the option of outdoor dining. It looks charming and inviting. Someone needs to restore Ruggles back to being consistently a good, if not great, place to have lunch or dinner.

Doesn't Recommend

canuckntexas

Joined 8 years ago

Truth.. warning to all those Vegeterians going to get your vegetarian vegetable soup, find out that the soup is actually does have vegetables but the broth is beef stock bouillons mixed with vegetables. But if you are a complete Vegan and don't want any animal by product what so ever in your soup, DON'T Get The V.V. Soup.

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texaschica06

Joined 5 years ago

Great food and desserts. Our whole family really enjoys this restaurant. We have been customers for the last several years. The kids love getting to pick out a cookie and decorate it while we wait for our food. We usually sit inside in the ac to avoid the heat but they also have a large patio that is nice in the cooler weather. A few of our usual orders include the grilled chicken aalad (my favorite), angel hair pasta, angus burger and the kids like the pizza dippers and chicken tenders. Their angus burgers are grilled and huge and the rolls they use are soooo good. It's making my mouth water just thinking about it ha! The guy (head cook?) is always so friendly and whipping out our food pretty quickly considering how busy this restaurant gets. Don't be afriad of the long lines. the staff is really good about moving the lines quickly. We like to bring our own wine sometimes since they have a byob policy and no charge. And did I mention desserts? They have so many to choose from. We love the strawberry bomb (lots of strawberries and angel food cake) and the white chocolate bread pudding (comes out hot with ice cream and sauces). Run don't walk over to this restaurant!

Doesn't Recommend

CalMarJur

Joined 5 years ago

Snobby Management. The only reason they get a one star from me is for a great VARIETY of desserts... Their desserts are good but not awesome for the price.

The food is ok, I do not know how kitchen even works there since they have this small corner in the restaurant and the AC OFTEN IS NOT WORKING.

The staff is OK, and the management is snobby.

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cummingsgirl

Joined 5 years ago

Great food, Great Service, Great Dessert. This eating establishment is amazing!! The goat cheese salad is incredible. I love all of the desserts. The service is great, and the staff is friendly. The atmosphere is cool and they have a very tasty buger. I give this restaurant ten stars out of five, and recommend it for all eaters!!